I love, love, love seeing my boys playing, smiling, and laughing together. As the developmental gap begins to close a little, they have been able to enjoy more activities together.
Justin, Renee, Paul, Ben, & Amanda
A Few of Ben's Favorite Things (8 months old)
At 8 Months Old, a Few of Ben's Favorite Things Are:
- Being around people, especially Paul, Dad, & Mom
- Getting his diaper changed
- Eating, eating, eating-- especially meat and anything that is not baby food
- Clapping
- Pulling himself up on furniture, people, etc.
- Drooling
- Bouncing, smiling, patting, and throwing
Ben's Works in Progress Include:
- Crawling. He is so close to crawling and everyday I am surprised at how close he is.
- Self-feeding. He is good at feeding himself dry finger foods like cheerios, but has yet to master feeding himself wet, slippery foods.
- Winning over people's hearts
Changes
The last couple of months have kept us on a roller coaster of emotions.
- Brent proposed to Niccolle last night on their shared birthday! Brent has been noticeably happier since he and Niccolle met earlier this year. From the time I've been able to spend with Niccolle, I've already come to like her and am excited for her to join our family.
- Paul finally graduated to a twin bed and adjusted to it after only one night. Because of this, Ben was able to upgrade from the small cradle into the spacious crib. Both boys seem to be really happy with the changes and Paul's new freedom has not seemed to create a problem (other than on the first night). Since the boys are still sharing a room, I expected Paul to wake up his brother, but this hasn't happened....yet. I was happily surprised this morning when I heard both boys giggling in their room. I left them in their room for about a half an hour during which they continued to talk and giggle. I'm in love :)
- Justin and I have been wanting to move back to Fort Collins to be closer to our families and his job. We put an offer in on a short-sale home in Fort Collins at the end of October and finally heard back from the seller's bank that they accepted our offer! Since the house had been vacant for months, the utilities have been off. The house was not winterized and some pipes froze and cracked. Last night Justin worked with a plummer at the house and they were able to find and repair the leaks. The damage was minimal and is repaired now. We now have a home inspection scheduled for Monday and if that goes well, we could be closing on the house on the 29th of this month! We will have to find tenants to rent our townhouse in Loveland before we close. This has been really stressful for us. It doesn't seem to be the right time of the year for this. The snow and holidays seem to keep people from wanting to move right now. We do have one good prospect, but if that falls through I'm not sure what we'll do.
- Justin was accepted on DailyPainters.com and has already sold paintings through the website. This website only accepts a limited number of artists from all around the world, so just being accepted was a success and validation of his talent. I'm excited for him and proud of him....now we just need to help find time for him to actually paint :)
- The boys have kept me busy and with a constant underlying stress with our house situation and night after night of interrupted sleep, I am not handling things as well as I would like to. Justin has been great being patient with me and helping whenever he can. I'm so lucky to have such a caring, loving, supporting husband.
- Paul and Ben are able to interact with each other more and more each day. Although he is not crawling yet, Ben is mobile and able to get into a lot. This includes scooting across the room and pulling himself up onto anything--including Paul. Ben loves to pull and grab Paul. Sometimes Paul is amused by this and other times Paul is irritated. Paul has been pretty good about sharing with Ben and even gives his little brother random hugs and kisses. Ben loves to watch Paul play and tries to join in, but usually acts more like godzilla than a play-mate. Paul is generally patient with Ben and Ben adores his older brother.
We are excited to spend time with family and friends for Christmas (part II) and are anxiously awaiting to settle into our new house.
Christmas Dancing
As soon as they heard this song start to play, Ben and Paul began dancing to the music...yes, what they are doing is dancing :)
Brothers
After church on Sunday, we tried to take some pictures of the boys together because they looked so cute.... We got a few good pictures, but trying to get both boys to sit still AND smile at the same time is never a great idea, especially right before nap time :)
Thanksgiving
We had an action-packed week full of family fun. We celebrated Thanksgiving with my side of the family and Christmas with Justin's side of the family all in the same week. It was nice to be able to see so much family from out-of-town.
We spent Thanksgiving Day at my parent's house. The boys' great grandma and grandpa Wilkins, Uncle Brent & Aunt Niccolle, and Uncle Austin & Aunt Keely were all able to come to town to celebrate the holiday with us.
Great Grandpa Wilkins enjoyed playing with Paul and Ben.
Merry (early) Christmas!
MERRY CHRISTMAS
In order to be able to have the whole family together to celebrate Christmas, we celebrated it a month early with Justin's side of the family. As always, it was overwhelmingly fun and noisy and everyone was spoiled.
Here are all of the grandkids lined up on the stairs just before they were released to start opening presents. As you can see, Ben wasn't too thrilled with all of the waiting...
Paul with Grandma "Candy" & Ben with Great Grandma Richards.
Ben with Great Grandpa & Grandma Lamplugh.
You can't tell from the pictures, but there were so many presents that the boys literally did not know what to do.
We feel very lucky to be able to be as close to our families as we are and can't wait to be even closer to them.....soon (we hope).
Ben and Gwyn
Ben and I traveled to Georgia last week to visit Megan and her 20 month old daughter, Gwyneth. Although I wasn't able to capture it all in pictures, Ben and Gwyn got along really nicely and had a lot of fun together. Gwyn is an adorable little girl who loves to perform and is full of life. She entertained Ben and made us all smile :) I wish we lived closer so that our kids could grow up together...
It was so nice to see Megan again. I got lost for a while reminiscing about old times- both good and bad. While reading through letters that I'd written to Megan while we were apart during college, I realized the importance of documenting my life...no matter how mundane it can seem at times. The emotions in my letters to Megan felt just as strong now as they were when written. I now have another goal on my long list of things I'd like to keep up with...
More More Ranch
I love how Paul says "ranch," one of his favorite snacks lately.
I also love how he uses "baby's" spoons to eat with lately. He tries to be so big and independent, yet when he sees his brother doing something, playing with something, or using something, Paul has to do the same.
Snow Day!
It's too cold to play outside, so the boys and I made chocolate chip cookies and the boys have been taking lots of nice, warm bubble baths.
Paul Splashing, Ben Laughing
Bubble baths have been a lot of fun now that the boys are taking them together. Paul loves to splash water in Ben's face. My first instinct was to tell Paul "no," however, Ben seems to love it. Here is a clip of Paul splashing and Ben laughing...
Six Month Stats
Ben had his 6 month check up and received a great report from the doctor! Everything looked good and he hardly even cried when they gave him 4 shots in his padded little thighs :)
He is just over 28" tall (90%), weighs just over 19 lbs (75%), and has a nice large head measuring a little over 18" (95%).
Paul's "Hats"
aul has been having fun wearing different "hats" and running around the house with them on his head.
Sculpture Park September 2009
We've lived in Loveland for just over 5 years now and finally took the time to visit one of the sculpture parks that Loveland is famous for.
And yes, Paul is wearing his pajama top. We were lucky enough to get him out of his pajama bottoms and into jeans, though it wouldn't have been the first time he's been out and about in full pajamas and tennis shoes- his favorite outfit lately.
Stylin' Paul
Paul continues to select what clothes he wants to wear. Here is a sampling of his style :)
Still Growing....
Both Paul and Ben had check ups earlier this month at the doctor's office. Paul had his 2 year check up and Ben had his 4 months check up.
Ben is a big guy. He's topping the chart on his height (27", 96%), pushing 17 lbs (16 lbs, 12 oz), and has a nice large head (17.25", 80%). He has been rolling over and is just starting to sit up with the support of his arms.
Paul is still tall (~3 ft.) and slender (27 lbs), and it seems that his head has continued to grow quite a bit (20", 97%). The doctor joked that if Paul plays football when he's older, he will have to custom order a helmet to fit his large head :) Paul's speech has really taken off lately. His "sentences" are getting longer and more meaningful.
Both boys received a good report with no major concerns. We are so lucky to have such sweet, healthy boys. Ben was fussy for a few days after receiving his vaccinations. Paul stepped up and went out of his way to help keep Ben happy. When Paul would hear Ben fussing, he would run to his aide offering kisses or toys, or both. Ben is fascinated with his older brother and loves the attention that Paul has been giving him lately. Paul is pretty good to share his toys and space with Ben, but does get frustrated from time to time when Ben continually grabs his arm, clothing or hair (whatever he can reach). It is so fun to see them interacting more and more and we can't wait until Ben is old enough to really start to play with Paul.
Ben's Babbles
I'm trying to catch up and post videos and pictures from the past month or so.... Here is a clip of Ben babbling. He is a chatty little boy...
